Indians trade Drew Stubbs to Rockies for relief pitcher

By
Jim Ingraham, The News-Herald & The Morning Journal

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

In many ways, Drew Stubbs and Josh Outman are the same player. Both are 29 years old. Stubbs can’t hit right-handed pitchers and Outman can’t get right-handed hitters out.
On Wednesday, the Indians traded Stubbs to the Colorado Rockies for Outman, a left-handed reliever who is an outman only when he faces left-handed hitters. Against right-handers? Not so much.
That’s OK with the Indians, though, because they were in need of a second left-hander in the bullpen, joining Marc Rzepczynski, and they had a surplus of outfielders after signing free-agent David Murphy to a two-year $12 million contract last month.
Stubbs hit just .216 against right-handed pitchers in 2013. His exit solidifies the Indians’ right field platoon of Murphy and Ryan Raburn.
Right-handed hitters hit a robust .347 vs. Outman last season, but lefties managed only a .198 average against him.
“One of our focuses this offseason was to improve our pitching, and we feel like we’re making headway in that area,” Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. “Josh has had a lot of success against left-handed hitters at the major-league level. We feel he’ll fit well in our ’pen.”
Antonetti said Outman will pitch mostly against left-handed hitters, filling the role that was handled by Rich Hill this year. Hill, who had a 6.28 ERA in 61 appearances, is a free agent.
Outman made 61 relief appearances for the Rockies in 2013 and was 3-0 with a 4.33 ERA. He actually pitched better in the thin air at Coors Field than he did on the road. He had a 3.41 ERA at Coors Field.
Antonetti admitted the Indians and Rockies talked about Outman at the trade deadline in the middle of the 2013 season.
“We talked about him but we were unable to align on value,” Antonetti said.
Outman was selected by the Phillies in the 10th round of the 2005 draft. He was traded to Oakland in 2008 as part of the deal that sent pitcher Joe Blanton from the A’s to the Phillies. Oakland traded Outman to Colorado in 2012 in exchange for outfielder Seth Smith.
The Indians’ bullpen is undergoing a major overhaul this offseason. Closer Chris Perez was released at the end of the season. Setup men Joe Smith and Matt Albers signed as free agents with the Angels and Astros, respectively, and Hill is expected to land elsewhere as a free agent.
The key relievers who will return next year include Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw and Vinnie Pestano, plus a handful of minor leaguers who could compete for jobs.
The Indians have reached an agreement with closer John Axford, pending his passing a physical. Antonetti declined to speak about Axford on Wednesday, but he did have high praise for Shaun Marcum, who signed a minor-league deal with the Indians and will attempt to win the No. 5 spot in the major-league rotation in spring training.
“We feel Shaun is healthy, and anytime he has been healthy, he has been a very productive major- league pitcher,” Antonetti said.
The Indians may not be done adding to their pitching staff.
“We feel good about the group we have, but we’re still looking to improve it,” Antonetti said. “There is a lot of time between now and the start of spring training.”
Stubbs, 29, spent one year with the Indians, who acquired him a year ago from Cincinnati as part of the three-team trade involving Shin-Soo Choo. Stubbs this year hit .233 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI. He was tied for third on the team with 17 stolen bases, but he also was second on the team in strikeouts, fanning 141 times in 430 at-bats.